EXCLUSIVE: Albrecht Schuch, Douglas Hodge, Gwilym Lee and Vinette Robinson have joined the cast of TriStar Pictures’ The Nightingale, starring Dakota and Elle Fanning, marking the first time the sisters star in a film together. The film, based on Kristin Hannah’s bestselling novel, also stars Mark Rylance, Shira Haas and rising star Edmund Donovan.
Michael Morris will direct the film from a script by Dana Stevens. The project is produced by Elizabeth Cantillon for The Cantillon Company, Dakota and Elle Fanning and Brittany Kahan Ward for Lewellen Pictures, and Reese Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter for Hello Sunshine. Sony Pictures is releasing the film theatrically February 12, 2027.
The Nightingale tells the powerful story of two sisters during World War II who dare to embark on separate, dangerous paths in the fight for survival, love and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France.
Nicole Brown and Shary Shirazi are overseeing for TriStar Pictures.
Hannah’s The Nightingale has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide and been translated into 45 languages. It hit No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list upon its 2015 debut and has spent a combined 165 weeks there across formats. It also dominated NPR’s fiction chart for 45 weeks and was named a Reese’s Book Club Pick in March 2023. In March 2025, a 10th anniversary edition rose to No. 2 on the NYT hardcover list. The Nightingale has sold 1 million copies so far this year.
Schuch is a German actor whose credits include Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA Award, and German films System Crasher and Peacock. He is repped by UTA, B-Side Management and Agentur Lambsdorff.
Hodge’s credits include Todd Phillips’ Joker, We Live in Time and most recently Pillion. He is repped by Innovative Artists and United Agents.
Lee’s credits include Bohemian Rhapsody and the Golden Globe-nominated The Great, for which he co-starred opposite Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult. He is repped by B-Side Management and Gersh.
Robinson received a British Independent Film Award for Boiling Point. Most recently she starred in Othello at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. She is repped by Curtis Brown Group.